In pursuit of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21), the City of Nice officially announces the launch of “Portraits Croisés,” a permanent exhibition to be discovered on the façade of the Ronchèse Primary School in Nice.
In 2017, as part of public space artist interventions initiated by Christian Estrosi and promoted by Robert Roux, then a Municipal Councillor, Simon Couvin engaged with the students of the Ronchèse School, under the direction of Marie Grimaldi. He introduced them to the practice of photography, encouraging them to change their perspective when taking pictures. During these educational, artistic, and civic activities, the schoolchildren created a series of photo-portraits. Each student portrayed a classmate and vice versa. During the editing process, the students mixed up mouths, eyes, foreheads, and chins, creating new faces.
Starting today, portraits filled with joy and humanity, unveiled in the aftermath of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21), are showcased on the façade of the Ronchèse School. This permanent exhibition is open to everyone.
These photos speak of otherness, diversity, and fraternity. They make us reflect on how we view others. The act of photographing becomes an act of awareness. There is debate and exchange. In these portraits, the human being is diverse yet universal. The exhibition notably served as a platform for a major event organized by “Alpes-Maritimes Fraternité” as a powerful symbol of living together.
To transmit and share these humanist values with as many people as possible, Christian Estrosi, alongside his deputies Robert Roux, Deputy Mayor of Nice in charge of Culture, Jean-Luc Gagliolo, Deputy Mayor of Nice in charge of Education, Books, Combating Illiteracy, and Niçoise Identity, Isabelle Visentin, Deputy Mayor of Nice in charge of the Central Territory and Religions, and Pierre Fiori, Municipal Councillor in charge of School Works, wanted to revive these portraits and present them to the people of Nice.
